Pablo Ruiz Picasso or José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero) to get a more distinguishable name. In these cases, it is even common to use only the second surname, as in "Lorca", "Picasso" or "Zapatero". This does not affect alphabetization: "Federico García Lorca", the Spanish poet, should be alphabetized in an index under "García Lorca", not "Lorca".

Spanish naming customs were extended to countries under Spanish rule, influencing naming customs of Hispanic America